Guest Opinion: The cure for congressional gridlock

Are you one of the many Americans dissatisfied with the gridlock in Congress? If your answer is yes, then you have a lot of company. Gallup says you are one of over 80 percent of the population.

Larry R. Bradley

Are you one of the many Americans dissatisfied with the gridlock in Congress? If your answer is yes, then you have a lot of company. Gallup says you are one of over 80 percent of the population.

Republicans/conservatives will say your dissatisfaction is the Democrats/liberal’s fault (and the latter will say the reverse is true), but the real root of the problem is actually something else. The true cause of the dissatisfaction — and its cure — lies with the electoral system itself.

American voters need to recognize they have the revolting behavior they have from elected officials because of the system used to elect those officials. Voters will have the behavior and frustration so long as they continue to use the existing system. The existing system rewards bad behavior because that system limits competition and choices for voters.

Consider this. Would you behave the way you do at work if you weren’t rewarded for it? Of course not. Politicians are no different. If voters want better behavior and results from elected officials, then the cure voters need is to first change the electoral system. Changing the electoral system will change what politicians get rewarded for and that will result in different behavior.

There are three specific system changes needed. Voters should be demanding commitments in support of these changes from the current 2014 candidates (especially gubernatorial and state legislative candidates) in order to earn the voters’ support. They are:

— Authorize true proportional allocation of electors based solely on the state wide popular vote within each state without being tied to congressional districts.

These changes are predominately within the existing authority of state governments to approve. The changes’ approval will completely transform the productivity of our federal government for the better.

For the sake of space, only the benefits of the first change will be discussed. Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) will allow a clearer statement of voters of what their intents and desires are. IRV will, in other words, enable voters to better clarify what they want vs. what they don’t want. For more on how IRV and proportional voting works, go to FairVote.org.

IRVs use in primary elections will ensure majority winners. No longer (especially in states without runoff elections) will motivated minorities be able to obscure, or even outright thwart, the will of a majority in a political party.

In addition, the candidates appearing on the ballot for the general election will be less likely to be extreme and present lesser-of-two-evils choices for voters. Further, IRV is superior to standard runoff elections. The result is quicker, saves the expense and aggravation of additional campaigning and the winner will be chosen from among a larger number of voters.

For general elections, IRV eliminates a form of voter blackmail known as the spoiler scenario. No longer would voters be afraid to vote for fresh new candidates for fear of “wasting their vote.” Eliminating this fear will force existing parties and candidates to reevaluate their positions on issues if they want to win elections.

The winner of this increased level of competition and choices will be the voters themselves. Their vote will count larger than it ever has before. The need for candidates to get second choice votes will reduce negative campaigning. The rise of third party competitiveness will mean voters will be more likely to cast their votes based on party affiliation. In turn, this will reduce the effectiveness of expensive advertising. This will negate the influence of money.

The changes recommended here will enable voters to implement a system that allows them to punish bad behavior, not reward it. That enabling will eliminate gridlock.

Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Americans failing to recognize the true cause of their frustration with politics and government is due to using the same defective political system and not fixing its flaws is, therefore, insanity. The cure to our insanity is also the cure to our dissatisfaction. Let’s get busy making the cure happen.

Larry R. Bradley is a voter advocate, author and speaker. Find out more about him and his proposals for better government at TheCenterStrikesBack.org.